Description

WILLEM WILLEKE (THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS, 29 SEPTEMBER, 1879 — MASSACHUSETTS, USA, 26 NOVEMBER, 1950)

 

 

 

 

He was a remarkable child prodigy who played both the cello and the piano, and while still a youngster played the Haydn D Major Cello Concerto and the Schumann Piano Concerto on the same program. He was the admiration of Johannes Brahms, learned all of Brahms’ cello works, and performed many of them with Brahms at the piano. Even so, he aspired to become a physician, and studied in Bonn and Vienna, winning his degrees. Nevertheless, Joseph Joachim, the great violinist and another friend of Brahms, repeatedly urged Willeke to return to music. When he agreed, he started his career with a tour of Scandinavia in which he played the Grieg sonata with the composer at the keyboard. And, again, when he played the Strauss sonata, that composer was his accompaniment. During the first decade of the twentieth century he appeared with all the famous orchestras of Europe, and was appointed Royal Cellist to the Austro-Hungarian Emperor. He came to the United States in 1907 as cellist with the Kneisel String Quartet. At that point, he began to take an active part in American musical life. In 1917, when the Kneisel disbanded, he founded an ensemble called the Elshuco Trio. The unusual first name was derived from the first syllables of the name of their patroness, Elizabeth Shurtleff Coolidge. (This lady, a person of historical importance in the development American chamber music, soon replaced the middle name, which was her husband’s, with her own maiden name, Sprague.) Mrs. Coolidge in 1918 founded the Berkshire Festival of Chamber Music and named Willeke its first Musical Director. He stayed in that capacity until his death in 1950, and was succeeded by his widow. Willeke was also the leading cello teacher at the Institute for Musical Art in New York, which merged with the Juilliard School in 1926, and left a strong legacy of many talented pupils to enrich American musical life.

 

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

Jocelyn (Godard) Berceuse Brunswick 10143 5557 approximately May 1921 New York, New York

Tannhäuser (Wagner) Evening Star Brunswick 5139 7304 approximately February 1922 New York, New York

Menuett (Haydn) Brunswick 5139 7308 approximately February 1922 New York, New York

The swan (Saint-Saëns) Brunswick 10143 5559-5560 approximately May 1921 New York, New York

Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt (Tchaikovsky) (vocal E. Rethberg) 10166 14743 Brunswick, New York 1925-01-28

Andante – Concerto, No. 2, in D minor (Goltermann) Josef Adler (piano) Edison 82152 6186 between 5 21 1918 and 5 24 1918 New York, New York

Evening Song Op. 9 No. 1 (Dessau) Josef Adler (piano) Edison 82152 6187 between 5 21 1918 and 5 24 1918 New York, New York

Jocelyn (Godard) Berceuse Brunswick 13022 5557 approximately May 1921 New York, New York

Elshuco Trio A perfect day (Jacobs-Bond) Brunswick 10175 15295-15297 3 26 1925 New York, New York. 799 Seventh Avenue, Room no. 2

Elshuco Trio Andante (Saint-Saëns) Brunswick 10149 12221-12223 1 4 1924 New York, New York

Elshuco Trio Autumn and winter (Glazunov) Brunswick 10144 5716 approximately June 1921 New York, New York

Elshuco Trio Elegia (Arensky) Brunswick 10159 14770-14772 1 31 1925 New York, New York. 799 Seventh Avenue, Room no. 1

Elshuco Trio Extase (Ganne) Brunswick 10141 8707-8709 approximately September 1922 New York, New York

Elshuco Trio Farniente (Cui) Brunswick 10146 9560 approximately December 1922 New York, New York

Elshuco Trio Melody in D (Fauré) Brunswick 10148 9568 approximately December 1922 New York, New York

Elshuco Trio Salut D’Amour (Elgar) Brunswick 13008 3591-3592 approximately January 1920 New York, New York

Elshuco Trio Scherzo (Brahms) Brunswick 10159 12230-12232 1 4 1924 New York, New York

Elshuco Trio Scherzo (Reissiger) Brunswick 10148 8568-8570 approximately August 1922 New York, New York

Elshuco Trio Scherzo (Schubert) Brunswick 10149 12227-12229 1 4 1924 New York, New York

Elshuco Trio Serenade (Op. 3) (Herbert) Brunswick 10146 9187-9189 approximately November 1922 New York, New York

Elshuco Trio Serenade (Widor) Brunswick 13008 3593-3594 approximately January 1920 New York, New York

Elshuco Trio Songs my mother taught me (Dvořák) Brunswick 10175 15053-15055 3 4 1925 New York, New York. 799 Seventh Avenue, Room no. 2

Elshuco Trio Spanish dance (C major) Brunswick 10141 8710-8712 approximately September 1922 New York, New York

Elshuco Trio Swedish folk song (Svendsen) Brunswick 10144 5710 approximately June 1921 New York, New York